Ready-to-bake shelf-stable cake dough and process for its manufacture

Abstract

A ready-to-bake, shelf-stable cake dough consisting essentially of flour, fat, sugar, eggs and water and usual dough additives and comprising a leavening system, the dough having a water activity of below 0.85 and being packed in an essentially gas-impermeable pouch in an atmosphere of an inert gas containing less than 4%, preferably less than 2% residual oxygen. A process for the manufacture of such a dough is also disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A process for manufacturing a ready-to-bake, shelf-stable cake dough consisting essentially of flour, sugar, fat, eggs and water comprising the steps of a) making a premix powder by homogeneously mixing an enzyme-inactivated flour, and sugar;   b) making an emulsion by placing into a mixer the fat and pressurizing with an inert gas, whereafter a vacuum is applied and a liquid mix of pasteurized whole eggs and water is sucked into the mixer in which the fat and the liquid mix are intensively mixed under vacuum to create the emulsion and remove the oxygen, whereafter the vacuum is broken with inert gas;   c) adding the premix powder to the emulsion and mixing under vacuum to make a dough;   d) reducing the oxygen content of the dough by injection of inert gas followed by vacuum during mixing;   e) breaking the vacuum with an inert gas which is at least partly soluble in the dough and pressurizing the dough with said gas up to 1-2 bar (0.1-0.2 MPa) and mixing under this atmosphere for another 20-30 minutes; and   f) packing the dough in an essentially gas-impermeable pouch which is flushed with inert gas before it is sealed.   
     
     
       2. The process according to claim 1 wherein said enzyme-inactivated flour has an alpha-amylase activity of essentially zero, a lipase activity of essentially zero and a peroxidase activity reduced by more than 90%. 
     
     
       3. The process according to claim 1 wherein said fat is a hydrogenated, highly saturated vegetable fat containing no lauric acid and with a free acid content below 0.3% calculated as oleic acid, an iodine value (Wijs) of 66-75 g/100 g, a peroxide value of max. 1.2, and a melting point of 32-35 C. 
     
     
       4. The process according to claim 1 wherein said cake dough consists essentially of 10-15% enzyme-inactivated flour, 20-30% sugar, 15-25% fat and 15-30% liquid, pasteurized whole eggs. 
     
     
       5. The process according to claim 2 wherein said enzyme-inactivated flour has no lipoxygenase activity. 
     
     
       6. The process according to claim 3 wherein said fat has a free acid content of less than 0.1%. 
     
     
       7. A process for manufacturing a ready-to-bake, shelf-stable cake dough consisting essentially of 10-15% enzyme-inactivated flour, 10-15% starch, 20-30% sugar, 0.1-0.7% leavening, 15-25% fat, 15-30% liquid, pasteurized whole eggs and 3-6% glycerol comprising the steps of a) making a premix powder by homogeneously mixing the enzyme-inactivated flour,   starch,   sugar, and   leavening;     b) making an emulsion by placing into a mixer fat and pressurizing with an inert gas, whereafter a vacuum is applied and a liquid mix of the liquid, pasteurized whole eggs and glycerol is sucked into the mixer in which the fat and the liquid mix are intensively mixed under vacuum to create the emulsion and remove the oxygen, whereafter the vacuum is broken with inert gas;   c) adding the premix powder to the emulsion and mixing under vacuum to make a dough;   d) reducing the oxygen content of the dough by injection of inert gas followed by vacuum during mixing;   e) breaking the vacuum with an inert gas which is at least partly soluble in the dough and pressurizing the dough with said gas up to 1-2 bar (0.1-0.2 MPa) and mixing under this atmosphere for another 20-30 minutes; and   f) packing the dough in an essentially gas-impermeable pouch which is flushed with inert gas before it is sealed.   
     
     
       8. The process according to claim 7 wherein said starch is native wheat starch. 
     
     
       9. The process according to claim 7 wherein xanthan gum is homogeneously mixed with said enzyme-inactivated flour, starch, sugar and leavening. 
     
     
       10. The process according to claim 7 wherein said enzyme-inactivated flour has an alpha-amylase activity of essentially zero, a lipase activity of essentially zero and a peroxidase activity reduced by more than 90%. 
     
     
       11. The process according to claim 7 wherein said fat is a hydrogenated, highly saturated vegetable fat containing no lauric acid and with a free acid content below 0.3% calculated as oleic acid, an iodine value (Wijs) of 66-75 g/100 g, a peroxide value of max. 1.2, and a melting point of 32-35 C. 
     
     
       12. The process according to claim 11 wherein said fat has a free acid content of less than 0.1%.